31 Brand New LGBTQ YA Books To Devour This Summer

Add a little rainbow action to your sunbathing this summer with these great reads!

1. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

Flatiron Books / Via us.macmillan.com, Teresa Marie Photography / Via melissabashardoust.com

Release date: July 7, 2020

What it's about: Following up on her magical debut, Bashardoust somehow manages to level up even further with a fantastic bisexual fantasy based in Persian mythology, starring a princess named Soraya who's cursed with a poison touch. When she emerges from a lifetime of hiding for her brother’s wedding, it sends her on a journey toward finding self-acceptance, strength, and love in the most unexpected of places.

Get it from Bookshop for $17.46, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

2. Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

Penguin Random House / Via penguinrandomhouse.com, Henriette Lazaridis / Via itsrorypower.com

Release date: July 7

What it's about: The bestselling author of Wilder Girls returns with a twisted thriller about a lesbian named Margot who's desperate for more family and a life beyond the tiny one she shares with her mother. When she finds a photograph that points her toward the town of Phalene, Margot knows she's meant to go and settle there. Then she arrives, and quickly learns there are very good reasons her mother left without looking back.

Get it from Bookshop for $17.47, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

3. Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Bloomsbury YA / Via bloomsbury.com, Via kalynnbayron.com

Release date: July 7, 2020

What it's about: In a society that idealizes the legend of Cinderella, one queer Black girl is dead set on escaping the notorious ball. Sophia doesn't want to marry a prince; she wants to marry Erin, her best friend and secret love. But breaking the rules has its price, and when she meets the descendant of one of Cinderella's supposedly evil stepsisters, Sophia realizes it's time to fight back.

Get it from Bookshop for $17.47, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or your local independent bookstore through Indiebound here.

4. Faith: Taking Flight by Julie Murphy

HarperCollins Publishers / Via harpercollins.com, Christy Archibald / Christy Archibald Photography (http://www.christyarchibald.com) / Via imjuliemurphy.com

Release date: July 7, 2020

What it's about: Faith is your ordinary teen who's fat, queer, an animal lover, a good friend, a TV fan, and, in slightly less ordinary terms, newly able to fly. When her favorite show moves to her town for filming, sparks fly between her and Dakota Ash, The Grove's heroine. But there's only so much time she can spend focusing on budding romance when her world falls under the spell of a designer drug and those who populate it start disappearing.

Get it from Bookshop for $17.47, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or your local independent bookstore through Indiebound here.

5. The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

Tor Teen / Via us.macmillan.com, Natasha Michaels / Via Publicist

Release date: July 14

What it's about: Klune's made a big name of himself in queer adult fantasy, most recently with The House in the Cerulean Sea, but this superhero series is his first venture into YA. It stars a boy named Nick who happens to be the most popular fanfic writer in the entirety of the Extraordinaries fandom, which may or may not be partly inspired by his massive crush on hero Shadow Star. When Nick gets a shot to meet the hero himself, it inspires him to make himself extraordinary enough to deserve a superhero. But when enlisting his best friend, Seth, in the task of helping with that, Nick discovers the most super guy in his life may have already been at his side the whole time.

Get it from Bookshop for $17.47, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

6. The Fell of Dark by Caleb Roehrig

Feiwel & Friends / Via us.macmillan.com, Via calebroehrig.com

Release date: July 14

What it's about: Vampires are back in a big way for notable thriller author Roehrig's first foray into paranormal romance. (Well, second if you count his story in the recently released Out Now, which inspired this novel.) Fulton Heights is home to both gay human boy Auggie and a boatload of vampires, thanks to its location amid mystical energy fields, and the town isn't big enough for the both of 'em. Maybe that's just how Auggie feels because one particular sexy, pansexual vampire is a little too compelling for his comfort. Or maybe it's because he's discovered a very unwelcome tie between him and an ancient power that's threatening the town and he's the only one who can save them all.

Get it from Bookshop for $17.47, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or your local independent bookstore through Indiebound here.

7. Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters

HarperCollins Publishers / Via harpercollins.com, Via ericawaters.com

Release date: July 21

What it's about: This utterly haunting debut stars a sixteen-year-old bisexual fiddle player named Shady Grove who much prefers bluegrass to folk, regardless of what her bandmates think. (Yes, even if she has a crush on a very pretty one of those bandmates.) The only way to relive the sound she still hears everywhere she goes is to retrieve her dead father's fiddle, the one that just so happens to have the power to raise ghosts. But the instrument takes on a new power for Shady when her stepfather is murdered, her brother is accused, and she becomes the key to finding the truth.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.54, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

8. The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich

Macmillan Publishers / Via us.macmillan.com, Dylan Evans Photography / Via us.macmillan.com

Release date: July 28

What it's about: Dietrich's specialty is mashing up SFF thrillers and sweet romance, and he's back at it with this tale of a mobster's son named Matt who's happy to cede the family dynasty to his brother, especially when he falls for a boy named Jason who happens to be the police commissioner's son. Now Matt has to decide how much of himself he can continue to keep private, especially if it means losing his first love.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

9. I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch

Imprint / Via us.macmillan.com, Scott Bowman / Via us.macmillan.com

Release Date: July 28

What it's about: Enemies-to-lovers invades fandom in this debut about two girls who've completely fallen for each other as co-creators of a webcomic online without realizing they're the very same girls who absolutely despise each other at school. Iliana and Rhodes have been locked in competition forever, whether over their mutual best friend or the Capstone prize they're both desperate to win. But when their chemistry starts to bleed off the internet and into real life, will secrets and competition still succeed in tearing them apart?

Get it from Bookshop for $17.47, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

10. Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner

Feiwel & Friends / Via us.macmillan.com, Via goodreads.com

Release Date: Aug. 18

What it's about: Twelve Angry Men goes YA when a diverse cast of girls (including an ace main character) fight back against being shut out of the all-boys mock trial team and decide to start their own in an attempt to be the ones to take their school to nationals. Together, the girls explore a common interest in activism and what it could mean for their future plans. (And yes, there is knitting, baby!)

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

11. Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram

Dial Books / Via penguinrandomhouse.com, Afsoneh Khorram / Via penguinrandomhouse.com

Release date: Aug. 25

What it's about: The sequel to the award-winning Darius the Great is Not Okay shows Darius a year later having come into his own, complete with a boyfriend, and internship, and a spot on the soccer team. But when things start to crumble with both family and friends, and Darius realizes his heart might be split into more pieces than he thought, it's time for him to figure out who he really wants, what he really needs, and what it means to be the best and truest version of himself.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

12. Ironspark by C.M. McGuire

Swoon Reads / Via us.macmillan.com, Megan Drescher / Via us.macmillan.com

Release date: Aug. 25

What it's about: Bryn's been training to kill the fae in revenge for destroying her family for nearly a decade, and now the time has come. Only...she can't. Not on her own, anyway. But with the help of a few friends, she just might be able to take the Fae Court on, as long as the lesbian love triangle she's found herself in doesn't get too distracting. Then she finds a book of Fae magic that belongs to none other than her own mother, forcing her to choose between the powers she's gained through her new friendships and those she never imagined she'd use.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

13. Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, ill. by Rovina Cai

Levine Querido / Via levinequerido.com, Via levinequerido.com

Release date: Aug. 25

What it's about: Little Badger's first full-length YA novel is a gorgeous illustrated speculative work set in a slightly altered America and starring Elatsoe, an asexual Lipan Apache girl with the gift of being able to raise the spirits of dead animals. Armed with that power, Elatsoe sets off to solve the mystery of her cousin's murder, paying no mind to how badly their small town wants her to stay out of their deadly secrets.

Get it from Bookshop for $17.46, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

14. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Swoon Reads / Via us.macmillan.com, Elizabeth Stelle / Via aiden-thomas.com

Release date: Sept. 1

What it's about: This vivid, compelling debut follows gay trans boy Yadriel on his quest to prove to his family that he is a brujo, regardless of what gender he was assigned at birth. But when his completion of the involved ritual has him accidentally raising the wrong spirit, he's forced to help a hot high school bad boy solve the mystery of his death while continuing to search for the murderer of his own cousin. And if that wasn't complicated enough, there's the small issue of the fact that once Julian does find peace, it means Yadriel will have to say goodbye...

Get it from Bookshop for $16.54, Barnes and Noble for $17.99, or from a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

15. Gold Wings Rising by Alex London

Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Via us.macmillan.com, Sonia Sones / Via us.macmillan.com

Release date: Sept. 1

What it's about: The final book in the stellar Skybound saga has siblings Brysen (who's gay) and Kylee (who's aroace) in the fight of their lives as the deadly ghost eagles have come for them all. While the civilians hide, Kylee uses her superior shooting skills to bring the birds down. But Brysen has a different strategy in mind, and if the two of them can't work together, it just might tear them apart.

Get it from Bookshop for $17.47, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

16. Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos

KCP Loft / Via barnesandnoble.com, Via andreacontos.com

Release date: Sept. 1

What it's about: Life isn't easy for Caroline, but with three months until graduation, she's hoping it'll get there as soon as she can leave her family and the memories of her ex-girlfriend behind. Then her best friend, Madison, vanishes, and Caroline's forced to spring into action. But when she learns that not only was Madison keeping secrets from her, but she was only one of a number of girls to mysteriously disappear, it raises more questions than Caroline can possibly answer, including the biggest one: what does it mean that the one thing all the disappearings have in common is Caroline herself?

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

17. The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters

Interlude Press / Via barnesandnoble.com, Vanessa North / Via julianwinters.com

Release date: Sept. 8

What it's about: Truthfully, the best way to sum up Winter's absolutely delightful third novel is "Empire Records if it was set at a bookstore and everyone was queer," and if that sounds like the most amazing read to you, you're not alone. It stars biracial gay comic nerd Wes Hudson, who's on the precipice of college but still trying to figure out what future feels right to him, especially if it means pulling him away from his best friend and longtime crush, Nico. But everything falls to the wayside when the bookstore that's both his employer and his second home falls into financial trouble, and he and his friends scheme over how to save it.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

18. Iron Heart by Nina Varela

HarperCollins Publishers / Via harpercollins.com, Via ninavarela.com

Release date: Sept. 8

What it's about: The sequel to last year's most notorious slow-burn SFF gives rise to the human revolution, led by none other than Ayla, former handmaiden to (and reluctantly ardent admirer of) Lady Crier. But now Ayla has sided with Queen Junn and pledged to destroy the Iron Heart, even though it would destroy Crier along with it. But Crier isn't simply sitting and waiting for doom, or for heartbreak; she's on a search of her own, to find and protect the human girl she loves.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

19. Night Shine by Tessa Gratton

Margaret K. McElderry Books / Via simonandschuster.com, Natalie C. Parker / Via simonandschuster.com

Release date: Sept. 8

What it's about: Pitched as "a dark, queer Howl's Moving Castle," this epic fantasy centers on an orphan named Nothing, who lives quietly in the empress's palace and enjoys a friendship with Prince Kirin. When the prince is kidnapped, the culprit is a mystery to everyone except Nothing and Kirin's bodyguard, the only ones with the knowledge to reason why Kirin would be targeted by the Sorceress Who Eats Girls. And so they set off together on a dangerous secret quest toward the sorceress, a mission that may end up being Nothing's last.

Get it from Bookshop for $18.39, Barnes & Noble for $19.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

20. Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall

HarperCollins Publishers / Via harpercollins.com, Katherine Langley / Via nitatyndall.com

Release date: Sept. 15

What it's about: The only thing that might be worse than losing the person you love is not being able to share that grief with anyone, because to do so would mean coming out before you're ready. That's exactly Corinne's problem when her girlfriend Maggie dies, leaving her alone and back in the closet. But there is one person who knows what it's like to love and lose Maggie: her ex-girlfriend, Elissa. And that's the only place Corinne can think to turn as she deals with her grief and her secrets. But now she has a whole new problem: she might just be falling in love again.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or your local independent bookstore through Indiebound here.

21. Even if We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

Sourcebooks Fire, Karin Nijkamp / Via mariekenijkamp.com

Release date: Sept. 15

What it's about: Who needs a restful night's sleep when you can read a twisted, fast-paced multi-POV thriller that'll scare the bejesus out of you? Nonbinary Ever and trans boy Finn are two of the five teens getting together for one last gaming session at a cabin in the woods, but how many of them will get out alive when old feuds flare up? You'll have to read to find out!

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or your local independent bookstore through Indiebound here.

22. Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

North Star Editions / Via barnesandnoble.com, Via adamsassbooks.com

Release date: Sept. 15

What it's about: Sass saw our dry, placid faces and said "Nah" with this debut thriller about a boy who's sent to conversion camp on a secluded island. Connor isn't about to roll over and take it, no matter what his religious mother thinks is best for him, and especially not when he sees what the other kidnapped kids have gone through. Together, they lead a rebellion against the forces that keep them trapped, and the hatred that sent them there to begin with.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.54, Barnes & Noble for $15.10, or your local independent bookstore through Indiebound here.

23. The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke

Erewhon Books / Via workman.com, Via hannahabigailclarke.com

Release date: Sept. 15

What it's about: Queer witches are absolutely having a moment, and the time has come to meet outcast lesbian witch Sideways. Or at least she was an outcast, before three of the most popular girls in school hired her to cast a spell at their party. Now she's one of them, and the four of them have formed a powerful, close-knit coven. It's a busy life, full of hunters, cursing, partying, girlfriend-hunting, and all sorts of things that've never been part of Sideways' life. But even amid the supernatural scrapes they get themselves into, somehow the hardest part for Sideways is simply accepting that she isn't alone anymore. What's the spell for that?

Get it from Bookshop for $16.51, Barnes & Noble for $17.95, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

24. Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro

Tor Teen / Via us.macmillan.com, Zoraida Córdova / Via markoshiro.com

Release date: Sept. 15

What it's about: Oshiro's sophomore is a coming-of-age fantasy about a girl named Xochitl who dreams of sharing her heart with another, even as she spends her days wandering the desert. Then she finds a kindred spirit in Emilia, daughter of the very man who's been terrorizing Xochitl's town and prompting her journey. Together, they're each other's best hope for both love and survival on this journey that may spell freedom, or may lead to their doom.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

25. The Art of Saving the World by Corinne Duyvis

Amulet Books / Via corinneduyvis.net, Nicolette Duyvis / Via corinneduyvis.net

Release date: Sept. 15

What it's about: This sci-fi adventure centers on asexual lesbian named Hazel who's been stuck in her small town every since it was determined that if she strays too far, an interdimensional rift that tore at her birth will start projectile vomiting all forms of objects from other dimensions. But when she turns sixteen and the rift starts acting up anyway, it leaves Hazel not with foreign objects but with clones. How many Hazels does it take to fix the rift and save the world? She's about to find out...

Get it from Bookshop for $17.47, Barnes & Noble for $18.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

26. Miss Meteor by Anna-Marie McLemore and Tehlor Kay Mejia

HarperTeen / Via harpercollins.com, Tehlor Kay Mejia / Via harpercollins.com, Via author.annamariemclemore.com

Release date: Sept. 22

What it's about: Two powerhouses of queer Latinx YA team up for this friendship-centric tale of Lita and Chicky, two girls who may not be besties anymore but are pushing that behind them in order to take the crown in the Miss Meteor pageant. Each one has reasons for wanting to win, and both know it's an uphill battle for someone from their background to take the top prize. But they're nothing if not ambitious and determined, no matter who tries to stand in their way.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

27. How it All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi

Viking Books for Young Readers / Via penguinrandomhouse.com, Joe Power / Via penguinrandomhouse.com

Release date: Sept. 22

What it's about: When coming out to his Muslim family goes poorly, Amir needs a respite from them, his ex, and all the other stuff he can't wait to leave behind. What better way to get a little peace than by running away to Rome? Except Traveling While Muslim lands Amir in interrogation, and now his Roman holiday has turned into a living nightmare, forcing him to confront all the pain he thought he left back in the US.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.54, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

28. Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh

Dutton Books for Young Readers / Via penguinrandomhouse.com, Via becomher.com

Release date: Sept. 22

What it's about: This debut novel in verse follows a queer Nigerian American girl in her first year at the historically Black Howard University, where she's working to carve out her own life away from the shadow of her past and all the abuse, parental rejection, and complexity of being an immigrant's child that came with it.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.54, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

29. Crownchasers by Rebecca Coffindaffer

HarperTeen / Via indiebound.org, Natalie C. Parker / Via rebeccacoffindaffer.com

Release date: Sept. 29

What it's about: Pansexual Farshot may be best known as the emperor's niece, but don't get it twisted; she's out to carve her own name in their space empire. When it turns out her uncle's not long for this universe, Farshot finds the perfect way to prove she deserves to rule, even without her family legacy: win the crownchase, the hunt for the royal seal that determines the next leader. She knows it's somewhere in the empire, but in a world of aliens, space pirates, and empaths, there's nothing easy about this adventure, even if it's a whole lot of fun for readers.

Get it from Bookshop for $16.54, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

30. Under Shifting Stars by Alexandra Latos

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / Via hmhbooks.com, Trenton Latos / Via hmhbooks.com

Release date: Sept. 29

What it's about: Audrey and Clare are twins, but that doesn't mean they're close, especially not since their brother, Adam, passed away and Clare blamed Audrey for the accident that killed him. Now they're at separate schools, and each one is struggling: Audrey with missing both of her siblings and wanting to transfer out of her alternative school, and Clare with her gender identity and unexpected romantic feelings for a classmate. Can they find their way back to each other to provide the support they both need, or is their relationship damaged beyond repair?

Get it from Bookshop for $16.55, Barnes & Noble for $17.99, or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.